152 
THE SAVAGE WORLD. 
five weeks in a tub of water without a morsel to eat, and when I came to put 
them in alcohol they seemed almost as fresh as ever. During their confine¬ 
ment in the tub, two of the females deposited a large amount of spawn. This 
spawn was something similar to frog-spawn in its general appearance, but the 
mass had not the dark colors of the latter. The ova were exuded in strings, 
and were much farther apart than frog’s 
eggs. They were of a yellow color, while 
the glutinous mass which connected them 
had a grayish appearance. The spawn 
seemed to expand greatly by absorption 
of water. It lay in the tub among the 
animals for a week, but was not dis¬ 
turbed by them.” 
The Spotted Lizard (Lacerta oscel- 
lata ) is a native of the Old World, found 
most common in the warm and barren 
region of Central Asia and Arabia. It 
is beautifully spotted with white on a 
dusky brown background, and is a swift 
swimmer, notwithstanding the unusual 
length of tail it is compelled to drag. Its 
home is upon the ground, which it seldom leaves, except to scamper over rocks 
or logs. In length it rarely exceeds ten inches, of which the tail is consider¬ 
ably more than half. 
The Green Lizard (.Lacerta viridis ), peculiar to regions about the Medi¬ 
terranean, is most beautiful in its gorgeous livery of brilliant green, as well as 
sprightly, inquisitive and courageous, 
though entirely harmless. It is a fre¬ 
quenter of old ruins, on the fallen glory 
of whose monuments it delights to bask. 
It is usually about six inches in length. 
The Waran and Debb are both 
natives of Germany, the former being 
arboreal in its habits, while the latter, 
though somewhat resembling the gecko, 
has its toes adapted to ground dwell¬ 
ing, being short and stout, enabling it 
to travel rapidly through the brush 
and crevices of rock, where its haunt 
is chiefly made. The waran grows oc¬ 
casionally to the length of one foot, but 
the debb is a thick creature, and rarely 
exceeds six inches ; its appearance is that of a poisonous reptile, but is harmless. 
The Amblystoma, also called Axolotl, is found distributed pretty widely 
throughout the American tropics, but its most popular haunt is Mexico, where, 
notwithstanding its most repulsive appearance, its flesh is used rather exten¬ 
sively for food. There are fifteen species of this creature in Central America, 
Mexico and along the Pacific coast, and a single species in Japan. In size they 
vary from two to twelve inches in length. A most singular thing concerning 
LARVA OF THE AXOLOTL- 
ADULT axolotl- 
